Sliding-door latch.



No. 776,747. PATENTED DEG. 6, 1904. P. M. KLING.

SLIDING DOOR LATCH.

APPLIOATZON FILED JULY 5, 1004.

N0 MODEL.

I UNITED STATES Patented December 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

PETER M. KLING, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIIGNOR TO THE DAYTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

SLIDING-DOOR LATCH.

iSPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,747, dated December 6, 1904.

Application filed July 5, 1904. Serial No. 215,301. (No model-l 1'!) all 1071/0712, it nan/ concern.-

p the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in latches for sliding doors, and has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, andetiicient latch which when applied to a sliding door will automatically perform its function of latching and releasing itself through the medium of an operating-handle constituting a part of the latch and by-which the door is pulled or pushed open or closed.

The invention is designed more especially for use on doors of railway baggage-cars, but is also adapted to various other types of sliding doors; and it consists in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the latch applied to a sliding door and its keeper applied to the casing or stationary wall against which the door closes, the door being shown closed and the normal position of the latchpiece and the handle being represented by solid lines and their abnormal positions being shown by dotted lines; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4 represent details.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A is a door-plate provided with means for its attachment to door E and having a bridgepiece a, which forms a guideway I).

B is an operating-lever pivoted at c to the said plate A and to which is secured one end of a handle O, the opposite or free end of which terminates in a guic le-piece (Z, operative within the said guideway and limited in its movements therein by stops a (1 Dis a housing provided with ears or flanges by which it may be secured to the door E by screws or otherwise. \Vithin the said housing there is pivoted thereto at 0/ one end of a latch-piece F, having a projecting mem ber f and a catch member 7, the free end of said latclrpiece being beveled, as shown. The plate A is also provided with a bridgepiece Gr, forming a guideway it, within which the free end of the latclrpiece F operates.

H represents-a keeper consisting of a plate 11, having an angle portion 7:), in which there is a slot or opening l to receive and through which the beveled end of said latch-piece F slides when opening and closing the door, the said plate 't' being secured to the casingor wall I by screws or other desired means. When the door is closed, as shown inFig. 1, the catch member g of the latch-piece E is engaged behind the said angle portion ]:of the keeper H, the door being thereby retained in a closed position. When the door is to be opened, the handle A is grasped and power applied in the direction in which the door is to move, and such operation will rotate the operating-lever B on its pivot c, the free end of said lever engaging said projecting member f and causing the free end of the latch-piece F to rise, thereby releasing said catch member 9 from its engagement with said angle portion k, and the free end of said handle having then reached its limit of travel in the said space 6, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the door can by the exertion of suflicient force in the same direction be opened, while in closing the same power applied to the handle in a reverse direction will release said operating-arm from engagement with said projecting member, and the said latch-piece will drop to its normal position, and when the bevel of same impinges the said angle portion of the keeper H the free end of the latch-piece will enter the said slot or opening Z of the keeper H, and upon further closing movement of the door rise until upon final closing of the door the said catch member will again engage the keeper and retain the door in such position until the next opening operationtakes place.

It is obvious that in carrying out my invention the exact construction as hereinbefore described need not necessarily be followed as, for example, the operating-lever and the latch-piece may be pivoted to the door direct, and the bridge-pieces a and G may also be secured directly to the door, in which cases the housing D and plate A may be dispensed with, and other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a sliding-door latch, the combination of alatch-piece one end of which is adapted to be pivotally connected with a door its opposite end being provided with a beveled portion and a catch member and having a projecting member located between the said catch member and the pivotal end of the said latchpiece, an operating-lever, one end of which is adapted to be pivotally connected with the door its opposite end being capable of operating the said latch-piece by engagement and disengagement with said projecting member thereof, an operating-handle one end of which is attached to and by which said operatinglever is moved on its pivot, a guide-piece at the opposite end of said handle, a guideway and stops for said guide-piece for limiting the movement of said handle and lever, a guideway for the free end of said latch-piece, and a keeper adapted to be secured to the doorcasing and to engage said catch member to retain the door in a closed position, substantially as set forth. 1

2. The combination with a sliding door and its casing, of a horizontally-arranged latchpiece having a projecting member, a housing at one end thereof to and within which said latch-piece is pivoted, a vertically-arranged door-plate to which is pivoted an operatinglever having an operating-handle attached thereto provided with a guide-piece at one end thereof, guideways formed in or on said door-plate within which said guide-piece and said latch-piece operate, stops for limiting the movement of said operating-lever, a catch member forming a part of said latch-piece, and a keeper adapted to engage said catch member and hold the door in a closed position, the said latch-piece being operated by engagement and disengagement of the free end of said operating-lever with said projecting member, substantially as set forth.

3. In a sliding-door latch, a latch-piece F having a projecting member f and a catch member 9, a housing D to and within which one end of said latch-piece is pivoted, a doorplate A provided with guideways 6 and h, an operating-lever B pivoted to said door-plate and provided with a handle C and a guidepiece d, in combination with a keeper H, the said parts being arranged and operative in a manner, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name, in the presence of two witnesses, this 18th day of June, 1904.

PETER M. KLING.

Witnesses:

JAMES C. CoNNoLLY, J. KIRBY, Jr. 

